Bale (Oromo: Baalee; Amharic: ባሌ Somali: Baale ), also known as Bali, was a historical Muslim region located in the southeastern part of modern Ethiopia.
It bordered the Dawaro to the north, Hadiya in the west, and Adal in the east and its core areas were located around the Shebelle River.
[5] Ulrich Braukämper, after discussing the evidence, states that this former dependency "occupied an area in the northeast of the province which later was named after it, between the mountain range of Urgoma and the eastern Wabi Bend.
[7] Along with other Muslim polities in the region, including Dawaro, Arababni, Hadiya, Shirka, and Dara, Bale became part of the so-called confederation of Zeila under the Sultanate of Shewa, however later in the centuries it became involved in a tug of war between the rising Christian Solomonic dynasty and Muslim states in the region.
Despite its peripheral status, Bale remained under Ethiopian control well into the early 16th century when Emperor Na'od repulsed a raid by an Adal leader named Adruh, this reign also witnessed the rebellion of a nobleman named Wanag Jan, who converted to Islam and slaughtered many Christians but was eventually defeated.
While in Bale, Adal writer of Futuh al-Habasa Arab Faqīh, reports that his men seized much loot, pillaged the province and "reduced it to cinders".
In response, the Imam made use of an imported cannon and a number of Arab mercenaries including skilled archers from Morocco, which easily put the Bale army to flight.
[13] In 1583 the governor of Bale Abbas b. Kabir Muhammad would assist Gasa Ibrahim II in becoming leader of the Imamate of Aussa.
Manuel de Almeida notes that the territory was occupied by the Oromo with little difficulty as the land was mostly flat lowland plains, which was ideal for a nomadic people to expand in.